1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a liquid crystal display device, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display device which is configured to have a pixel electrode and a counter-electrode on one of substrates that constitute a liquid crystal display panel.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, flat-panel display devices have vigorously been developed, and liquid crystal display device, above all, have attracted attention because of advantages of light weight, small thickness and low power consumption. In particular, in an active matrix liquid crystal display device in which a switching element is provided in each of pixels, attention has been paid to the structure which makes use of a transverse electric field (including a fringe electric field) of an IPS (In-Plane Switching) mode or an FFS (Fringe Field Switching) mode (see, for instance, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2005-107535 and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2006-139295).
The liquid crystal display device of the IPS mode or FFS mode includes a pixel electrode and a counter-electrode which are formed on an array substrate, and liquid crystal molecules are switched by a transverse electric field that is substantially parallel to the major surface of the array substrate. In addition, polarizer plates, which are disposed such that their axes of polarization intersect at right angles, are disposed on the outer surfaces of the array substrate and the counter-substrate. By this disposition of the polarizer plates, a black screen is displayed, for example, at a time of non-application of voltage, and a white screen is displayed, as the light transmittance (modulation ratio) gradually increases with the application of a voltage corresponding to a video signal to the pixel electrode. In this liquid crystal display device, since the liquid crystal molecules rotate in a plane that is substantially parallel to the major surface of the substrate, the polarization state is not greatly affected by the direction of incidence of transmissive light. Thus, this liquid crystal display device has such features as a low viewing angle dependency and a wide viewing angle.
In this liquid crystal display device of the IPS mode or FFS mode, when a white screen is displayed, a color hue variation may occur, in some cases, in relation to the viewing angle. As a result, the display quality of the liquid crystal display device may deteriorate.